|
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | Back in the mid 80's the Balladeers had the FET3 while the Legends had the OP24. Both look the same, 3 band eq with volume. Does anyone know what the differences are between the two? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12755
Location: Boise, Idaho | I have one of each and I can't tell the difference, but the OP24 is on the Classic, so the sound is a lot different anyway. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | OP had op amps that powered it and the FET had fet amps (field effect transistors, whatever they were) I recall the op24 having more dynamics. It basically is the same as the Magnum 2 electronics. I still like the sound of the OP24 but I'm just an old retired gas station fart living on a fixed income so wtf do I know? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Shoulda taken a position on the board... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 709
Location: Germany | The pics provide an insight in the preamp boxes. The upper one shows the FET3 with one field effect transistor. The lower pic shows the OP24 with his 6 operational amplifiers (the black bugs) each providing 24 transistors. From technical point of view the OP24 is the more advanced preamp. I agree to Bill, it has more dynamics - it sounds better!
Karl |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | What are "op" amps? Is that where all the names of the current amps come from? I've always wondered what that prefix meant. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | Karl:
Thanks for the pics and electronic analysis. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | Gee, all these years I just thought it stood for "Ovation preamp." :rolleyes: |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | BHB,
"Op amp" is an abbreviation for the term operational amplifier. In somewhat watered down terms, it refers to an electronic circuit that can be modeled as a chunk of gain with 'differential' inputs (quoted because, while they appear to be inversely related, they are missing much of the common mode rejection of a true Diff amp). You see them a lot because they are so convenient to design with and many are jelly bean cheap. I'm a little surprised to see them in an instrument preamp. In the 80's the rule of thumb was for low frequencies (DC - 1kHz) op amps were ok, but once you got into the upper midrange audio freqs, you had to go discrete for fidelity reasons. When I was last doing instrumentation design, mid nineties, there were a number of companies out there, Linear Technologies was my favorite, that were doing some pretty incredible things with linear IC's. LT had an engineer working for them, Jim Williams, that had a wonderfully twisted appreciation of electrical engineering. IMHO his best design was a light emitting pickle.
To return to topic, I think Jeff has a higher percentage chance of being right about the OP prefix. Although, the morphing of the FET preamp into an op-amp design lends credence to BHB suggestion. I guess you'd have to ask those model naming masters from marketing to get the definitive answer. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 709
Location: Germany | The 1987 Ovation catalog says that each of the six operational amplifier of the OP24 has 24 transistors. So I think OP24 stands for "OPerational Amplifiers with 24 transistors each". But who knows?
Karl |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | kid-school
That's brilliant work...
you by any chance in marketing?
Really, it's as plausible as anything I'd have thought up. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | Originally posted by ChatMan:
BHB,
"Op amp" is an abbreviation for the term operational amplifier. In somewhat watered down terms, it refers to an electronic circuit that can be modeled as a chunk of gain with 'differential' inputs (quoted because, while they appear to be inversely related, they are missing much of the common mode rejection of a true Diff amp). You see them a lot because they are so convenient to design with and many are jelly bean cheap. I'm a little surprised to see them in an instrument preamp. In the 80's the rule of thumb was for low frequencies (DC - 1kHz) op amps were ok, but once you got into the upper midrange audio freqs, you had to go discrete for fidelity reasons. When I was last doing instrumentation design, mid nineties, there were a number of companies out there, Linear Technologies was my favorite, that were doing some pretty incredible things with linear IC's. LT had an engineer working for them, Jim Williams, that had a wonderfully twisted appreciation of electrical engineering. IMHO his best design was a light emitting pickle.
To return to topic, I think Jeff has a higher percentage chance of being right about the OP prefix. Although, the morphing of the FET preamp into an op-amp design lends credence to BHB suggestion. I guess you'd have to ask those model naming masters from marketing to get the definitive answer. That's watered down???? I'd hate to see the concentrate! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 709
Location: Germany | Chatman,
you're a keen observer of human nature! Right, I was employed in technical marketing for the semiconductors industry in Sunnyvale, CA. But that was in my younger days.
Karl |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | That's the kind of answer I appreciate. I just printed it so I can spend the rest of the week absorbing the information! Thanks ChatMan. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | Hey ChatMan, how about a SED (smoke emitting diode)? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Why do I suddenly have a sinking sensation in my stomach? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | Sniff, sniff, is that smoke I smell? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | Oh man BruDev... don't tell me you installed batteries in the Woodman's PD preamp :eek: |
|
| |
FET3 and OP24- What makes them different?